School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences

Suggestions for upgrading to Mac OS X 10.3 "Panther"



Last revision February 17, 2005

These suggestions will make your upgrade from an older version of Mac OS X less troublesome. They are not for upgrading from Mac OS 8 or 9. They are specifically aimed at people using Mac OS X in the Stanford University School of Earth Sciences. I suggest that you print these instructions and check off the items as you complete them.

Before you upgrade

  1. Startup your computer normally, connect to the Internet, and run Software Update, in the System Preferences application (under the Apple menu) and download and install any OS or security updates. Don't bother with iLife updates (iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDvd, iCal, iSync, etc.) as new versions are on the 10.3 installation CD.

  2. Permissions on system files should be verified. This is most efficiently done while running from the hard disk.

    If you are running any version of Mac OS X 10.2, open the Disk Utility program (found in the Utilities subfolder of the Applications folder). Select your Macintosh hard drive (or the partition containing Mac OS X, if you have more than one partition), click on the First Aid tab, and then click on the Repair Permissions button.

    If you are running Mac OS X version 10.1.5, download and run the Repair Privileges Utility 1.1 from Apple's web site at

    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106900

    This utility is only for Mac OS X version 10.1.5, which was the last update to the 10.1 system (if you started with an earlier version of Mac OS X 10.1, it should have been upgraded to 10.1.5 in the first step).

  3. Install any firmware updates need for your Macintosh model.

    • Check the Mac OS X: Chart of Available Firmware Updates on Apple's web site at

      http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117

    • If a firmware update is available for your Macintosh, click on the number in the Download Document No. box.

    • Apple will direct you to a new page. Download and install the firmware update.

    • If the firmware update is already installed or your Macintosh was purchased after the date of the update release, you will get an error message when you run the firmware installer. If this happens, your machine is already up to date and you can proceed. Your system is not harmed.

  4. Startup from the Mac OS X Panther Version 10.3 Install Disc 1 CD. Insert the CD, and restart the computer while holding down the C key to start your computer from the CD.

  5. After the installer loads, run the Disk Utility program (located under the Installer menu) to repair any disk directory problems. Such problems can cause the upgrade to fail.

    • After Disk Utility opens, select your Macintosh hard drive and click the Repair Disk button.

    • If Disk Utility reports an error that it cannot fix, you will need to use a more powerful program such as DiskWarrior to repair the drive. Do not proceed with system upgrade until you have completely repaired the drive. Submit a HelpSU request if you need assistance with disk repair, at

      http://helpsu.stanford.edu/

    • Quit Disk Utility and Installer, check Startup Disk to verify that your hard disk is selected for startup, and restart your computer normally.

  6. Create a complete bootable backup of your hard disk (or system partition) to another disk drive (or partition), if a large enough one is available, using the free program Carbon Copy Cloner, available at

    http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html

    If you cannot backup your entire hard disk, back up your home directory, which contains your documents and personal settings, to some other medium such as Zip, CD, etc.

  7. If you have an external firewire disk, check the manufacturer's web site to see if it needs a driver update to run smoothly with Mac OS X 10.3. Problems have been reported with some external firewire drives.

  8. In System Preferences, select Login Items and delete any items from the list -- you don't want your new system to try to start old incompatible applications. After the upgrade, verify that these applications run correctly before adding them back to your Login Items list.

  9. Deactivate any anti-virus programs, such as Symantec (Norton), McAfee or Stuffit AVR. Check for updated versions before re-enabling after the upgrade.

  10. Disable MacLeland single sign-on and AFS, to avoid login problems after upgrade. These can be re-enabled after you re-install MacLeland.

    • Under the MacLeland icon in the menu bar select Settings.

    • Uncheck all items under the AFS tab.

    • Under the Security tab insure that Disable Single Sign-On is checked.

Upgrade Mac OS X

  1. Shutdown your computer and unplug all peripherals except for your keyboard and mouse.

  2. Startup from the Mac OS X Panther Version 10.3 Install Disc 1 (hold the C key down while starting).

  3. After the system starts and the Installer starts, you have the option to customize the installation by clicking on the Customize button. The following customizations are recommended for Earth Sciences:

    • Make sure the BSD Subsystem subset is selected. Many useful utility programs, plus normal UNIX features, require this subset, including Carbon Copy Cloner and remote login and file copy via ssh or scp.

    • Make sure the X-windows subset is selected if you want to install and use Matlab or other graphical applications that come from UNIX.

    • In the Foreign Language section, you can uncheck any languages that you will not need in order to save disk space. Mac OS X automatically installs support for about 15 non-English languages. Unchecking these saves about 30 Megabytes of disk space per language.

  4. After making any desired customizations, proceed with installation, by clicking on the Upgrade button. It may take over an hour to complete the installation process. The Installer may request the second or third CD disk.

  5. When the upgrade is done, quit the Installer, check Startup Disk to verify that your hard disk is selected for startup, and restart your computer normally.

After you upgrade

  1. When your computer has restarted from the upgraded system on the hard disk, run Disk Utility, located in the Utilities subfolder in the Applications folder on your hard drive, and click on Repair Disk Permissions again. Many mysterious problems can be avoided by making sure that all system files have the correct permissions.

  2. Connect to the Internet, and run Software Update, located under System Preferences, and install updates. There will most likely be a Mac OS X update, plus iLife application updates, and perhaps security updates. A restart will likely be required.

  3. After the computer restarts, run Software Update again, and install any additional updates. Keep running Software Update until no more new updates are found. Some updates cannot be installed until others are finished and the system is restarted.

  4. Install MacLeland version 2.3, found at

    http://ess.stanford.edu/.

  5. Re-enable any antivirus software that you use, after checking for updates on the vendor's web site.

  6. Check for any upgrades to applications that you have installed yourself on your system. Look at the vendor web sites, or search on VersionTracker at

    http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/

Comments or Questions?